


Truth or Dare

by CarolinesEcho (shopgirl152)



Category: Strangers in Paradise (Comics)
Genre: Aged Down Characters, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Expanded Scene, F/F, Female Friendship, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Francine and Katchoo as kids, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Issue 1 of SiP Kids, Mild Hurt/Comfort, No Plot/Plotless, One Shot, Sadness, Short One Shot, SiP Kids, SiP Kids Canon Divergence, Summer issue of SiP Kids, nothing graphic though, tw: mentions of inappropriate touching, what we didn't see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24816865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopgirl152/pseuds/CarolinesEcho
Summary: When Francine sneaks over to Katchoo's house and finds her friend sitting alone on the roof, she proposes a game of Truth or Dare. And learns a heartbreaking truth.
Relationships: Francine Peters & Katina Choovanski, Katina Choovanski & Francine Peters





	Truth or Dare

**Author's Note:**

> Note 1: Inspired by the second verse of Taylor Swift's song It's Nice to Have a Friend
> 
> Note 2. So this story is actually set in the SiP Kids universe. There's several panels in the summer issue of SiP Kids that show Katchoo walking home from Francine's house. On one side of the street is Francine's part of town (nice houses, manicured lawns) and on the other side is Katchoo's (literally the other side of the tracks under the powerlines). We see Katchoo go to her house and sit on the roof. She starts to sing, but is interrupted. It's a one off joke in the issue, but knowing Katchoo's story as an adult and what her home life was like, I thought there was a nice opportunity to expand that scene a little further. I hope you like it. Rated Teen for Katchoo mentioning Ace inappropiately touching her.

_Twenty questions, we tell the truth_   
_You've been stressed out lately? Yeah, me too_   
_-Taylor Swift. It's Nice to Have a Friend_

"Sooomewhere...out there..."

"SHADDUP!"

Katchoo ducked as a tin can whizzed past her head. She sighed. "Looks like it's gonna be another long night."

"Hi Katchoo!"

Katchoo started, peering over the roof ledge. "Francine? How did you get over here?"

"I followed when you weren't looking."

"But, the dog..." she was quiet for a moment. "Francine, you shouldn't be here."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Katchoo stared up at the power lines. "This isn't a good place for a kid like you. Besides, your Mom'll be mad."

"But you live here."

"Yeah, but..." she raised a brow. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to join you on the roof." Francine jumped, a hand stretching for the roof ledge. "Ungh! Ungh! How did you get up there?!"

Katchoo couldn't help the smile. "Here." She bent over the edge of the roof, extending a hand. "Grab on."

Francine smiled, grabbing the outstretched hand. She scrabbled a minute for a foothold before Katchoo pulled her over the edge.

"You know," Katchoo noted, "tutus really aren't the best for climbing."

"I didn't want to change." Francine looked down at her outfit. "Besides, I feel pretty in it. Not _fat_ like some people say I am." She turned up her nose.

"You're not fat. Look, I apologize for what I said earlier--"

"I know." Francine shot her friend a smile, sitting down on the roof and pulling her knees to her chest. "Cool! I can see my house from here!"

"Really?"

"No. Wait. I don't think that's my house..." Katchoo chuckled as she took a seat next to her. "Do you come up here all the time?"

"Sometimes. There are nights when--"

"Do you like it up here?"

"Sure. It's quiet. Sometimes--"

"How do you deal with that dog over there?"

"Rufus?" Katchoo raised a brow. "Well--"

"What's your favorite ice cream? Do you know your neighbors? Are they nice?"

"Francine--"

"What do you do when you're not at soccer practice?"

"Are you done?"

"Uhhh..." Francine counted on her fingers. "No. That's only twelve questions. I got to ask you..." more counting on fingers. "Eighteen more questions."

"Why don't we _not_ play twenty questions?"

"But it's fun!" Katchoo hedged. "We could play another game."

"Such as?"

"Um..." Francine scrunched her face up in thought. "Oh! I know! We could play truth or dare! I play that all the time at slumber parties!"

"No."

"Come on Katchoo. Pleeeaaasee?"

Katchoo sighed. "Truth."

"Why do you sit on this rooftop alone? Don't you want to be with your family?"

"My family's complicated."

"How?"

"My Mom married this guy named Ace. He's my stepdad. He..." she shifted uncomfortably. "He touches me. In really weird ways. We'll be watching TV and he'll..." her voice hitched. "He'll run his hand down my leg. His fingernails kinda scratch my skin. It causes tingles. I don't like the tingles."

"You could tell him to stop."

"I tried, but...he doesn't. And Mom says that he's just showing affection, but it just feels wrong somehow. Being near him makes me really uncomfortable." She shuddered. "I come up here to escape him. I pretend I'm the boy mouse from American Tail--"

"Oh my gosh! I love that movie!"

Katchoo smiled. "I pretend I'm that boy mouse from American Tail and my real family is in New York somewhere and I have to find them. Sometimes I even sing that song." She took a shaky breath. "Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight. Someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight."

"Somewhere out there, someone's saying a prayer. That we'll find one another--"

"In that big somewhere out there." The girls sang in unison.

"I'm sorry your stepdad makes you feel uncomfortable Katchoo." Francine took the girl's hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. "Maybe you could come stay at my house sometime. My Mom makes the best cookies. I bet she'd let you stay a couple nights with us."

"Thanks Francie. I'd like that." Katchooo returned the squeeze. "Promise you'll always be my friend?"

"I promise."


End file.
